AVG 8

AVG 8

When it comes to free antivirus software that is also powerful, there's really only one option. It's called AVG Free Edition and it works great for basic antivirus protection on a home PC. I know there are several of you out there who use AVG, so I decided to give you a heads up on some big changes you should be aware of. For quite some time now, the newest version of AVG has been version 7.5. I know I have used it on my home PC for almost a year now and it has worked out great. Well, just the other day, I received a notice that said I need to upgrade to version 8. At first, I thought they were just trying to sell me the pay version, but that wasn't so!

It seems AVG has completely revamped their free and pay versions of the software. AVG 8 is now available, so if you're still using v7.5, you should upgrade immediately. After doing some further research, I found out that AVG 7.5 will no longer be supported after the end of this month. So, if you don't upgrade to version 8 soon, you will no longer be protected from viruses or any other bugs that may be lurking around.

Now, I know upgrading software can be a hassle, so I went and upgraded my AVG 7.5 to AVG 8.0 just so I could tell you all about it! It turned out to be a pretty painless and simple process. Here's how you do it:

First, go to AVG's Web site and download the newest version of AVG Free Edition. Here's the link to their Web site: http://free.grisoft.com.

Make sure you choose the Free Edition (if that's the one you currently use) and then just follow the steps to download it to your computer. In the final step, you will be asked if you want to save or run the file. Choose Save and just put it on your desktop so that you can easily find it later.

After the file finishes downloading, find your current AVG icon in your system tray down by your clock (it looks like a square with four different colors on it). Right click on that icon and choose "Quit AVG free control center.” That will prompt a warning, asking if you're sure. Choose Yes. After you do that, shut down any other programs running on your system.

Third, find the AVG installation file you downloaded earlier and double click on it. That will start the AVG free installation. The nice thing about this installation is it will remove the old version automatically. Just go through the steps by clicking on the Next button. After the installation is complete, it will tell you it wants to check for updates, but the update check will fail. Don't worry, we will get to that on the next step. After clicking Next through all of the screens, you will be asked to restart your computer. Click Yes to do that.

The final step is doing the update that failed earlier. After your computer restarts, your AVG icon will have a red X on it. Double click on the icon and choose the option to update the software. The update will complete and the red X will disappear.

You're done! You now have the newest version of AVG. Until next week, stay safe out there, my friends!

~ Gary

Review:

Antivirus protection is mandatory in these days of uninhibited cyber violence. If you use your PC to surf the web, send or receive e-mail, or share files with others, you need to have adequate protection for your PC and your data. Thankfully, there is a wide variety of antivirus software available to choose from. Most of them are available for a charge, plus sometimes an additional annual subscription fee for the ability to download current virus definition updates (without which antivirus software would be pretty much useless).

But there are also several free (for personal use) antivirus solutions available. Usually free means that there is some kind of catch, e.g. no support, limited features, advertising on the screen, no automatic updates, or something similar. AVG 6.0 from Grisoft is one of these free antivirus programs, but it seems to be extremely powerful for a free antivirus solution and offers some impressive features. Let's take a closer look at AVG 6.0 to see why it stands out.

Installation

After downloading a less than 5MB file, the installation itself is pretty uneventful. You're asked to register and obtain a free serial number that you'll need at the beginning of the installation. During the installation you get to choose your level of protection. AVG 6 consists of 4 different components:

• AVG Resident Shield - This is the resident part of AVG. It runs in the background at all times for real-time virus protection.
• AVG E-mail Scanner - The e-mail scanner hooks into your e-mail and scans incoming and outgoing e-mail for virii. It currently works with the most popular e-mail clients, such as MS Outlook, Outlook Express, and Eudora (programs with MAPI support).
• AVG Control Center - This is the management system for AVG. Here you can schedule tests and modify program settings
• AVG Boot-up Scanner - It checks the most important parts of your operating system when booting the computer

Then you will be prompted whether you wish to enable automated updates, meaning you can schedule the program to automatically connect to their web site, check for updated virus definitions, and download them if available.

At the end of the installation you'll be prompted to reboot your system. When Windows returns, AVG will start automatically and greet you with a First Run Wizard to help you configure the program properly, such as installing the most recent virus definitions, scheduling the automatic system scan, etc. This makes configuring the software a breeze and in combination with the user-friendly interface pretty much eliminates any need for a manual.

Features

AVG 6 starts automatically with Windows and runs in the background, providing real-time virus protection. It has a very low overhead and seems to be extremely unobtrusive. At no time did the system seem to run slower or exhibit any problems with AVG running in the background which is something you can't say about some commercial antivirus software.

The e-mail scanner is an extremely handy feature, given the fact that most virii these days propagate via e-mail. It scans every incoming and outgoing e-mail and immedidately quarantines any nastiness before it can reach your inbox, or leave your outbox. For the visual aspect and additional peace of mind it can attach a certification to each sent and received e-mail, verifying that the e-mail has been scanned and found to be virus-free. AVG adds itself to your e-mail program for convenient access.

Not only does the e-mail scanner work very well, it is also very inconspicuous and adds no noticable delay or overhead, again something that you cannot say about some commercial antivirus software.

A feature that distinguishes AVG from most other antivirus software is the presence of an automatic virus definition update option. You can schedule it to check for updated definitions on a regular basis, and install them automatically when available, which leaves you without any excuses for using outdated virus definitions. AVG seems to update their definition about every two weeks, which is not as often as some other vendors, but they always have an update available when a new virus is in circulation.

In addition to scheduled updates, AVG's scheduler also allows you to run a complete test of your machine automatically on a regular basis.

AVG also adds an option to the context menu in Windows Explorer for convenient scans of individual files.

As mentioned before, AVG is extremely user friendly. Every important setting can be controlled from the AVG Control Center which is accessible by double-click on the icon in the system tray. The layout it very simple, clear, and easy to use. Many other programs could learn a thing or two from AVG in this department.

Performance

AVG has been performing well so far. I ran it on several Windows 2000 systems and it ran perfectly. The nightly system scans are fast and efficient. The e-mail scanner works well, too. It caught several infected e-mails, such as the infamous Hybris virus, and quarantined the attachments appropriately.

The downside

On the downside, there are a few problems with AVG that need to be taken seriously. For example, AVG has a horrible track record in the Virus Bulletin tests of antivirus software with only 2 passes and 19 fails.

Users have reported intermittent problems with downloading virus definition update files, an important part of any antivirus software. Other users have had problems receiving the email with the serial number, which is needed to actually install the software.

Conclusion

This review might not be very exciting reading, but in this case that's a good thing. AVG 6 is not very exciting, either - but it runs quietly, effectively, and smoothly. It does a great job while being essentially invisible. In addition, it offers several great features, e.g. automated updates, e-mail scanner, scheduled system scans, that you won't find in most other free antivirus programs.

However, given the bad test results and intermittent problems downloading updates, I would treat it with caution. Virus protection should be taken seriously, and I recommend you spend the money for a good antivirus program.

Submitted by: Alex "crazygerman" Byron

Save Your Keyboard

Save Your Keyboard

Q:
Now, don't get me wrong. I love my keyboard, but a few of my keys have stopped working. Is there any way I can still salvage this one so I don't have to buy a brand new one? Please help!

A:
As a matter of fact, there is! Don't go replacing your keyboard just yet. Listen to my suggestions and you can bring your old and worn in keyboard back to life. Here we go!

What do you do if one of the keys on your keyboard stops working? If it's only a couple of your keys, they may have shut down due to so much wear and tear? So, what should you do? Well, replacing the keyboard may be the answer I would get from most of you. But, when it comes down to it, you might be wasting your money to go out and buy a completely new keyboard. A penny is a penny, right?!

This article is going to help you avoid replacing your keyboard just because of couple of non-working keys.

Let's see how we can do this. For this article, I'm going to say that the “A” key on your keyboard has stopped working and you are in the middle of typing a document. You need to get your work done quickly, so what are you supposed to do when you need to type the letter A? Here's what:

1.) Make sure the NumLock function is enabled on your keyboard.

2.) Press and hold the ALT key.

3.) While holding down the ALT key, enter the two or three digit decimal code (which is 65 in our example) for the extended ASCII character you want to generate.

4.) Release the ALT key.

Once you do all that, you will find the letter A on your document. If you want a small “a” instead, then type the code of 97.

The trick to this, of course, is to know the decimal equivalent of the ASCII characters that you want to generate.

So, what does ASCII mean? Well, before you go any further, check here for some information on that. The tip here will help you to understand it better.

The following tables show the decimal equivalents of the ASCII characters.

As you can see, this tip doesn't only work for the alphabet keys. You can also use the codes for the symbols on your keyboard. So, are you still thinking about replacing that keyboard? I thought you might change your mind! When in doubt, just use these alternatives!

~ M. Nagarajan

Internet Explorer: Clear your drop down address bar

Internet Explorer: Clear your drop down address bar

Internet Explorer: Clear your drop down address bar

Is your drop down address bar full of old addresses that you will never use again? Mine isn't, because I have fixed that problem by getting rid of them. Want to know how? Then keep reading.

Warning: This tip involves entering the registry. If at any point you get confused or are not completely sure what I mean, STOP , and re-read the steps to make sure you are doing this exactly right. If followed correctly these procedures are completely safe. I would also not recommend messing around in the registry unless you know what you are doing.

First click the Start button. Then click on Run . Enter " regedit " (no quotes), and click OK . This will bring up the registry editor.

Under the My Computer directory open the HKEY_CURRENT-USER directory by double clicking it. Next open the Software directory in the same way. Under the Software directory open the Microsoft directory. Under Microsoft open the Internet Explorer directory. Under the Internet Explorer directory, open the TypedURLs directory.

Now the section on the right will be filled with a bunch of text that at first may seem rather meaningless, and the address below will be displayed at the bottom of the Window:

" My Computer\HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\TypedURLs "

If this is the case you are in the right place. If not, go back and make sure you have followed the steps correctly.

All the entries in the right are actually just a list of all the address you have entered. You can now click on any entry and press delete to get rid of it. For each one you delete you must confirm that you want to delete it by clicking yes in the box that appears. If it is easier for you, you can delete multiple entries at once by selecting them using either a box or the control key.

When you are finished simply close the registry editor window. (Unless you want to see something else you can do in the registry which is explained below) All those useless URLs are gone! Whenever that address bar gets full again, just do the same thing.

Since we are here in the registry let's change the message in the title bar of Internet Explorer. Just go back to the Main directory under the Internet Explorer directory. Now there is some more stuff in that right window. Scroll to the bottom and look for an entry entitled " window title " double click it to change its value.

Enter the text you want to be displayed in the title bar, and click OK . Now you can close the registry editor. If there was no entry named " window title " you can make one. Click on Edit , go to new , and click on " String Value ." Name it window title and set the value as indicated above.

Now open Internet Explorer and you can see your text in the title bar, and all those old addresses are gone!

~ Kyle Larson

Print Screen Button and Screen Shots

Print Screen Button and Screen Shots

Q:
How do I take a screen shot like the ones in your newsletter?

A:
I get email everyday asking that very question. So, here ya go!

You just tap the PrtScn (print screen) button. The real function of this key is to make a "snapshot" of your screen. If you have some imaging software (or a good word processor), you can then paste it into there and crop, etc. In fact, this is how we do our snappy screen shots.

Here's how:

To capture the whole screen, just hit the Print Screen (it might say Prt Sc ) button on your keyboard.

Then, open your imaging software (and a blank page, if you need to - it will depend on your software) and select your "Paste" command (usually Ctrl+V ).

This should paste an image of your computer screen into the document you're working on. You can also paste the image into a word processing program like MS Word or WordPerfect if you don't have imaging software. (With Word 2000 and newer, you might need to have the program open before your hit Prt Sc for the screenshot to go to the clipboard).

If you would like to capture only the current window, hold down the ALT button while you press the Print Screen button.

Soon you'll be a screenshot master.

~Steve

Pictures From Phone to Computer

Pictures From Phone to Computer

Pictures From Phone to Computer

We all know that cell phones are one of today's big crazes. An even bigger one is camera cell phones. Before we know it, all cell phones will probably have camera abilities, because the world today likes to see real images rather than just words. So, it may be a good idea to know what you can do with the pictures you take on your phone after the shooting is done.

Picture Messaging

A common way that people transfer photos from their cell phones to their computers (that doesn't really have any additional cost from your regular monthly bill) is picture messaging. It works pretty much the same as text messaging; you just have to have text messaging enabled on your cell phone. If you don't, this method will not work.

Note: Expect this method to be a little different for various phone models, but the following directions are pretty basic and similar for all phones.

If you would like to send a picture to another person's cell phone or if you want to e-mail a picture to a friend or even to yourself, you just need to open your phone and go to the Menu. Find your phone's Media Gallery and then choose Pictures. At this point, you can pick the photo you'd like to send. Once you have it chosen, go to Options and choose Send in Message (like you're sending a text message). This is where you choose to send it to one of the Contacts listed in your phone or if you want to e-mail it to someone or yourself. Pick the person you're sending it to and push the OK button and then Send.

You can also send text with the picture if you want to do that. If you end up e-mailing the picture to someone, you will just have to type in their e-mail address and they will get it in their Inbox. You just need to make sure the person you're sending the picture to has picture capabilities too.

Data Cable

Another way you can transfer photos to other people is to put them directly onto your computer, so you can e-mail them to your friends or save them to a disk or a CD. So, to do that, you have to have some sort of a USB data connection kit, which comes with the cable cord that plugs your phone into your computer's USB port and the software that will help you in transferring the pictures from your phone. You usually have to purchase these kits separate from your phone. The store where you buy your phone should have them available and they will be able to tell you which one will work with your type of phone.

Once you have your phone and computer connected, you can start transferring the pictures. Again, keep in mind that these kits are phone specific, so you need to make sure that you get one that will be compatible with your phone model.

Bluetooth

Another way to handle the pictures on your cell phone that is becoming more popular every day is a wireless technology called Bluetooth. Bluetooth works with short-range wireless technologies that allow you to easily send photos from your phone to a laptop or desktop computer. The computer you are sending them to just has to be equipped to accept the pictures.

The most difficult (but it can sometimes be fairly easy) part about Bluetooth is matching the phone to the computer, so they are both compatible with each other. But, once that it is done, sending the images couldn't be easier.

As long as your phone has the Bluetooth software on it, you can send the images without any extra charges billed to you. You can also send photos to other Bluetooth users' phones without any wires or additional charges. This seems to be the most versatile way to go if you're looking to maybe spend a little more money up front for the Bluetooth works, but it will save you money in the long run when you don't have to pay any extra charges when sending your pictures back and forth.

E-mail

Another way for you to send pictures between your friends and family is to e-mail them. Your cell phone has to have e-mail capabilities for this to work, but a lot of the phones these days come with that ability. You can e-mail them to other people or, as mentioned above, to yourself. You just have to type the e-mail address in the To: field just like you would if you were using Outlook Express and it will be sent.

If you see something while you're out and about that you just have to take a picture of, you can snap the photo on your phone, send yourself a quick e-mail and when you get home, the picture will be on your computer waiting for you. You can then send it off to other people or do something like set it as your desktop wallpaper.

Removable Memory Cards

Another new technology that is presenting itself with camera phones is an external memory card for your phone. The phone just comes with a slot for the card and you can transfer the shots to your computer in a snap. You will need to purchase an external memory card reader so it will all work, but it's one of the easiest ways to go if you takes several pictures with your cell phone.

When you have the card reader installed, you just remove the memory card from your phone, insert it into the reader and your computer will recognize it as another drive. You can then drag and drop the photos wherever you want them to go, e-mail them to others, etc. The options are pretty endless with this choice. You can then get rid of the existing pictures on your phone (since they're on your computer and not lost) and go out and take more. It's that easy!

Just one more reminder: all of these applications work differently with different phones, so make sure you refer to your phone's manual before doing anything you're not sure of. But, all in all, this is all really cool when you think about it. Who would have thought we could do so much with a little phone? Technology is just out of this world!

~ Erin

Downloads: Win XP Desktop Wallpaper Changer

Downloads: Win XP Desktop Wallpaper Changer

I love it when I find a cool picture or graphic to use as a wallpaper image. The only problem I run into is that I usually find too many pictures to use as wallpaper and can never make up my mind. So what I end up doing is changing my wallpaper constantly— I'd say I change my wallpaper on the average of once every day or two. There's still one issue I had to deal with and that was that I could really never decide on what wallpaper is my favorite and I end up flipping back and forth a lot.

Then I found a solution to my dilemma—the Windows XP Desktop Wallpaper Changer. This neat little "power toy" is a free download from Microsoft. It allows you to point to a folder full of your pictures for use as wallpaper. This means that instead of having a stagnate picture as your background Windows displays all the pictures in whatever folder you designated in a kind of really slow slide show. Sounds cool huh. Well, you haven't heard it all yet.

In addition to dynamically changing your wallpaper you can also put pictures in designated folders. The program will display these pictures as wallpaper on those days instead of your normal selection of pictures and return to your normal rotation the next calendar day. For example, I have 10 pictures chosen for my background and this is what I see everyday on my desktop wallpaper. Now let's say that I loaded a bunch of easter images in the program's designated folder for the date April 11. On April 11 when I boot my pc up the Windows wallpaper is going to see that I stored pictures within its April 11 folder and run that set of pictures (My easter images) instead of the normal set of images. When I boot up on the morning of April 12 the Wallpaper Changer will see that I have no images stored in the folder for this date and run the default set of images again.

You can set the wallpaper display length from 15 minutes to 1 week between pictures. You can manually skip a picture, or choose one image to display as long as you want . With the Windows Wallpaper changer your desktop will never be dull and lifeless again.

If you would like to download all of the wallpapers that we offer (see bottom of the newsletter) and rotate them using this program here's the simplest way to do it. First, create a folder and name it something descriptive and unique (i.e. "Worldstart Wallpaper"). From there go to our monthly wallpaper page.

Now, when the page of the graphic comes up right click the picture but don't select "Save as background", instead select "Save As" and when the window comes up asking where you want to save the picture to, select that folder we created earlier in the exercise and select save (make sure you save as a .jpg).

Once you have done that with all of the wallpaper images you want, then exit the internet and open up the Wallpaper Changer and in the "Change Wallpaper at Intervals" window navigate to the folder you dumped the wallpaper images into from Worldstart and you should almost immediately see them in the preview window. Select OK and you should see the program take affect.

Here's where to go to download:
http://www.worldstart.com/weekly-download/programs/powertoys_wpchanger.exe

~ Chad

Password Protect Folders in XP

Password Protect Folders in XP

Do you share a computer with other users and want some extra security on your folders? There are two ways to password protect a folder built into Windows XP (for other Windows flavors, there are some freeware/shareware programs out there).

#1 If you have a log in password for your account, this can be used to protect folders from other users. Your hard drive must be formatted using NTFS (which it probably is unless you're dual booting with another operating system). Here's what to do...

Right-click the folder that you want to make private and choose "Properties" (or Alt+Double-click). Go to the "Sharing" tab and check the "Make this folder private" box.

Click Apply . If you do not have a password on your account, a box will pop up asking if you want to assign a password. This must be done if you want to make the folder private, so click Yes . You will need to use your password to log on to your computer from then on.

Type in a password then confirm it. Click the "Create Password" button then close the Password window.

Click OK in the Properties dialog box.

Now anyone else logged on to your computer can't access that file without knowing your password.

#2 If the Folder is Zipped you can give it a unique password.

Just double-click the zipped folder. In the top menu select File then click "Add a Password".

Type a password into the Password box. Then again in the "Confirm Password" box.

Now, you are the only person who can access files in this folder. The folder can be opened allowing the files to be seen, but you are the only one who can access them.

Don't you feel more secure now?

~ David

Buildwebsite with HYper VRE

Hey!

By now I'm sure you've heard some great things about Matt Callen's new viral marketing and website building software, HyperVRE.

But if not, I wanted to fill you in on what all the great talk is about, and tell you briefly about some of the new features that Matt's added to the latest update to HyperVRE.

As if the software wasn't already extremely powerful, Matt just keeps adding more and more requested features to it. Anyway, here is a brief list of what the software can do for you:

- Generate thousands of fresh, unique content-rich webpages from highly-targeted keyword lists of your choice

- Keep your webpages fresh with unique content by placing several rotating RSS feeds to ensure that all webpages are unique and highly related to the topic

- Exponentially increase your profits by giving away the software with YOUR affiliate links branded into it. The viral potential of this program is endless...

- Promote ANY ClickBank, Amazon, or PayDotCom product of your choice. In fact, you're not even limited to these 3 affiliate programs. You can promote ANY affiliate product of YOUR choice!

- Earn quick money by automatically publishing AdSense ads on your site

- Create a long-lasting passive income with literally an infinite potential, including AdSense and Affiliate Marketing

Plus way more than I can list here...

Oh yeah... and the best part about this software - it's Free... at least for now anyway.

Matt's got several demos at the website to show you exactly what the softare can do for you, so I highly suggest that you take a few minutes
from whatever you're doing right now, and go check 'em out.

I can't understand how this will be free for much longer. So if I were you, I'd at least go see what it's all about now.


Could this be the coolest site on the Internet?

Matt Callen is giving away an awesome software package
called HyperVRE. Basically what this software does
is create websites for you that contain the two
hottest things in marketing right now ALL ON THE
SAME PAGES. The best thing is...it is free.

I just downloaded my very own copy and it is awesome,
so I wanted to share it with you. The software is a breeze to
use and there is an endless amount of customizable features.

The owner of HyperVRE told me I could let a few people know
about the site before they start charging for the product, and I
thought you would be interested. :-)

==> http://www.hypervre.com/?affiliate=120901

All the best,
ardison


Free Download Program!
http://www.hypervre.com/?affiliate=120901

Some Things You Should Consider When Getting a Anti-Spam Software

Author: Carolyn Clayton

Anti-spam software stops all junk mail/unwanted spam from entering your inbox. With most anti-spam software you get the same key features for each of them. These key features revolve around the concept of stopping any spam emails from entering your inbox and include preset filters for preventing spam.

Anti-spam software stops all junk mail/unwanted spam from entering your inbox. With most anti-spam software you get the same key features for each of them. These key features revolve around the concept of stopping any spam emails from entering your inbox and include preset filters for preventing spam. Anti-spam software allows you to fight back against spam by creating custom filters based on email accounts, words, subjects, etc. They give you the option of creating ‘friends’ lists so that all the emails you wish to receive are not deleted. Also all anti-spam software should be compatible with all types of email accounts.

As well as preventing spam emails entering your inbox, anti-spam software also scans incoming and outgoing messages so that any viruses are deleted. Most anti-spam software should help you with all of your email accounts instead of just focusing on the one.

There are certain things that should be kept in mind when selecting your anti-spam software; you should always keep in mind whether it is user friendly or not. This allows you to be able to handle messages differently for different users as some people prefer to have their spam messages directed straight to their junk mail folder while others prefer any spam to be directed to their inbox for example.


Anti spam software isn’t the only thing that is raging war on spam, even the government has had enough. A few years ago the government imposed a law which made it illegal for UK companies to send junk mail messages to individuals unless they have signed up to receive such information. If this law is broken there is a £5,000 penalty. However this law isn’t going to work by itself; extra help will be needed from organisations such as Internet Service Providers (ISP’s). Bigger companies also state that any information that they provide them with will not be passed onto third party companies. As well as this you also get the option when filling in information for companies as to whether you want your information to be passed onto third party companies. By answering yes to this option you are leaving yourself open to receiving spam messages from said third party companies as you will have agreed to receive information from them.

Anti spam campaigners have criticised the imposed law as they have stated it wouldn’t work considering 90% of spam comes from outside of the UK. Instead it has been said that individuals and businesses will have to take more technical responsibilities to ensure that their inboxes are protected.

Emails consist of two parts the header and the body. The body of an email is the text and any attachments that are featured with the email. The header is all of the information that you will see before that actual body such as the lines stating who the email is to and from, what the subject of the email is and the date. The ‘from’ line usually states the senders email address so that you can easily contact them. However in the case of spam emails spammers insert fictitious email addresses purposely so that you can’t get in touch with them.

My advice to anyone suffering spam emails, which is most people with an email account, is to invest in an anti spam software as this will be the most effective way of eliminating spam from your inbox.

About Author

Helen is the web master of MySpamBin, home of all your Anti Spam Software needs.

Please feel free to republish this article providing this resource box remains intact with a working hyperlink to our site.

Choosing Right Battery for Your Laptop

Author: Lesley Lyon

There are three types of laptop batteries available in the market today. Before you plan to buy a laptop battery, you should know the difference among them to decide on the right type of battery for your laptop. This article helps you find out which one will suit your laptop the best.

Laptops usually consume more power and the batteries should be lightweight and small to fit easily into the laptop. With a typical battery, your laptop can run for about ninety minutes. This will not be sufficient, as you may have to use your laptop frequently while on the move. You can use large and heavier batteries to solve this problem.

Laptop batteries are designed specific to the make and model of the laptop. Thus you require the appropriate battery for your laptop. Depending on the type of battery, the life of the battery will vary. However there are some common features that differ from the normal batteries used for household purposes: Laptop batteries can be recharged. They have many internal cells and there is a small PCB within each laptop battery. The location and shape of terminals vary across different models; Similar to all batteries, electrochemical reaction is created which forces a stream of electrons that traverse from one position to another in the laptop batteries and there are negative and positive terminals which send and receive electrons. However, rechargeable batteries are more complex than normal batteries as the power that is produced by the electrochemical reaction must be reversible. Therefore you should take care when recharging, for ensuring that they perform better.

Today there are many battery manufacturers who supply compatible batteries to Laptop makes such as IBM, HP-Compaq, Dell, Acer, Sony, Toshiba and Apple. There are three types of laptop batteries available in the market today. Before you plan to purchase, you should know the difference among them to decide on the right type of battery for your laptop.

NiCd (Nickel Cadmium) batteries were the first rechargeable batteries available for laptops. As they delivered a high output and the cost was also low, most manufactures earlier preferred them. Now they are not available widely as replacements have come that are much lighter with better performance.

NiMH (Nickel Metal Hydride) batteries can still be used in the older laptop models. They are more reliable than the NiCd batteries due to their higher output. The NiMH batteries are also safe to use and also cheaper to manufacture. The only disadvantage is the memory effect in the NiMH batteries, as it can remember the battery discharge levels and gives varying performance if the battery is not fully discharged.

LiON (Lithium Ion) batteries are currently used in laptops of latest models. LiON batteries have no memory effect compared to the NiMH batteries and are also lighter than both the above types of laptop batteries. Thus, Lithium Ion Batteries have become more popular and also expensive because of these advantages. If you can afford for the Lithium Ion battery, this is the best solution; you can go for a compatible NiMH battery if you have budget limitations.

A number of specialist battery manufacturers supply batteries to laptop companies based on the specifications, design and configurations for a particular model and quality terms agreed. Even the power requirements and available space for installing the battery vary from a laptop model to another and hence the laptop manufacturers order suitable battery packs for their various models. When you plan to replace the battery, you can contact the authorized dealer of your laptop manufacturer to ensure that you get the correct type of replacement.

About Author

The buyers' guides - http://www.laptopmall.info and www.bestusedcomputers.info - have exhaustive resources for computers, laptops and the other related accessories.

Download Iphone Game Or Play Online?

Author: Robert Thomson

As an Iphone owner, you may or may not know that as well as being able to use the safari browser to play online, or browser based games as they are known you can also download games for the Iphone. Check out these tips for downloading games onto your Iphone.

As an Iphone owner, you may or may not know that as well as being able to use the safari browser to play online, or browser based games as they are known you can also download games for the Iphone. Check out these tips for downloading games onto your Iphone.

First of all, your little Iphone is packed with more computing power than you may possibly realise. While browser games may be cool, they can often be a little basic, so you will need to download things to get the real cream of the crop.

The second point is to make sure and have a good look around some of the download sites. There are quite a few of them around now, and you can find the variety between them quite staggering. Also, one of the coolest things is that if you find the right sites, the game downloads will be totally free, which is obviously great.

Something else to consider is that some download sites can be pretty dangerous to your computer, because of viruses etc. If you are familiar with file sharing sites or P2P sites or whatever you want to call them, you may well have experience of viruses etc. This is because sites like this most often don't have any guidelines or regulation by the site owners or webmaster, allowing users to upload whatever they like. It seems cool to have this freedom at first, but it means that many of the sites are riddled with viruses and spyware etc.

As a final tip, always look for reports or reviews from a previous customer – it's very easy to make a site look all exciting and trustworthy on the internet, so looking out for someone else's experience with that particular site can be very helpful indeed – it can save you money in the long run and can even help your computer stay protected from virus and other nasty things!

You'll find that with virtually all of the worthwhile Iphone download sites, you will need to pay some kind of fee before you get access to the downloads. This fee is usually what helps them provide the free downloads in the first place, as it helps them cover costs and administration etc. It's not such a bad thing either, because the small fee in question will most often cover you for life, which obviously represents pretty good value.

You've now got at least a working knowledge of how to download games for your Iphone, so happy downloading and thanks for reading!

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Iphone Movies Software For Iphone
http://www.IphoneDownloadsReviews.com

Download A Free Movie For Your Iphone

Author: Robert Thomson

Ever since it became apparent that it was possible, many owners of Apple's new Iphone have been doing all they can to download free movies for their Iphone. The general consensus is that using Itunes and other download sites is becoming too expensive, with many owners preferring to get their downloads for free. If you like the sound of free downloads, read on to find out more.

Ever since it became apparent that it was possible, many owners of Apple's new Iphone have been doing all they can to download free movies for their Iphone. The general consensus is that using Itunes and other download sites is becoming too expensive, with many owners preferring to get their downloads for free. If you like the sound of free downloads, read on to find out more.

A simple Google search regarding Iphone movie downloads will soon give you an idea of just how many sites claim to offer free downloads. At first this seems great, the only problem being that a good percentage of them are not as they seem, so you need to be very careful. Follow these guidelines to help you spot which sites are trustworthy and which have ulterior motives.

Firstly, you'll need to be prepared to pay. Obviously, the fact that you may have to pay can make it seem like you aren't going to be getting any “free” movies for your Iphone, but you'll find that the most trustworthy sites will charge you a membership or admin fee to give you access to their downloads. This isn't as bad as it sounds, as you are usually only looking at around $30 - $50, and in most cases this will cover you for life. You will literally be downloading things in two years time from that same membership fee. It's easy to see the value when you think of it like that.

Secondly, avoid sites with spyware/adware. It can be easier said than done, so make sure you have reliable and up to date security software, this is essential, and also a good tip is to avoid any sites with those annoying popups etc. You'll often find that the sites with popups and things are the very same ones that will install spyware etc, so try to avoid these sites for maximum safety.

Thirdly, be sure to avoid the torrent or P2P sites, also known as file sharing sites. These first came into popularity five or so years ago, and should be avoided for a couple of very good reasons- first of all, downloading stuff from sites like this is illegal in most territories, so check your own local laws first. Second of all, these sites can be a real haven for hackers and spammers etc. All the files are uploaded to the sites by other users, and mostly there is no supervision which allows them to upload whatever they like. This means you could be happily trying to download the latest Brad Pitt movie only to find that the file you download contains nothing but a nasty virus!

If you have an Iphone, you'll already know what an excellent device it is, and hopefully this article will allow you to get even more enjoyment from it. Thanks for reading.

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Iphone Music Games For Iphone
http://www.IphoneDownloadsReviews.com

how to get music for iPhone

Author: Robert Thomson

If you have an Iphone, firstly congratulations-it's been very tough to get hold of one, especially in the hustle and bustle of the holiday season, and secondly, have you ever wondered how to get a good music collection onto it?

If you have an Iphone, firstly congratulations-it's been very tough to get hold of one, especially in the hustle and bustle of the holiday season, and secondly, have you ever wondered how to get a good music collection onto it?

If you have, you will be glad to know that essentially there are two main sources for your music (unlike the lucky Zune owners, Iphone owners aren't able to transfer songs directly with their friends). The best way to get an absolutely huge selection of songs into your Iphone is by downloading them from the internet, and the other, slightly less cool way is to simply transfer your existing cd collection onto the iphone. This is ok, but it just means the same old songs for you.

Using either method will mean you need a computer, and if you plan to use the internet you'll obviously need some kind of internet connection, and to transfer from CD you will need some ripping software-this is just a fancy name for a program that records music from your CD and saves in into Windows as a file so you can then do what you like with it. It's pretty fast as well, so it's not like you have to play the whole CD through or anything, it will usually take a couple of minutes tops.

Once you have the songs you want to transfer stored on your computer, it's simply a case of connecting the Iphone to the computer and letting Itunes sync with it, which should then store all the new stuff onto the Iphone. Simple huh?

Downloading songs from the internet is a little more complicated, but then it's worth it as you'll be getting a lot of new music. The main thing to take into account is that you want to stay very aware of how secure your computer system is. Iphones and Ipods etc are very popular, and the hackers and other unsavory characters know it only too well. There are a few sites around which will claim to offer all kinds of free music and downloads etc, only to give you downloads that are infected with trojans/viruses etc. For this reason you need to be very careful what kind of site you are using.

You'll find that there are some sites out there that will give you real free downloads for your Iphone, but they certainly take some finding. A useful way of spotting them is to expect to play a nominal fee to get your membership. It's something like $50 or so for life, which may seem steep but it usually gives you totally unlimited downloads, so offers good value in the long run.

Once you manage to get a few downloads, you can just transfer them to your Iphone using the Itunes program.

This article should have given you a real understanding of how to find and put music onto your Iphone.

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Iphone Games
Games For Iphone
http://www.IphoneDownloadsReviews.com

Download Free Games & Movies For Iphone

Author: Robert Thomson

Yes, you really can get free downloads of games and movies for your Iphone. If you're one of the lucky folks that has got in early and nabbed an Iphone already, you are definitely going to want to know how to get your hands on some of this free media.

Yes, you really can get free downloads of games and movies for your Iphone. If you're one of the lucky folks that has got in early and nabbed an Iphone already, you are definitely going to want to know how to get your hands on some of this free media.

Before you can download anything at all for your Iphone however, there are a few things you will need. You can't currently download directly to the Iphone, for one reason or another, so these items are a must.

The most obvious is a computer. It's pretty hard to access the internet without one and also you will need to store the downloaded stuff somewhere before you transfer it to the Iphone, right?

Secondly, you guessed it, some form of internet connection. This is probably the easiest part, as if you have a notebook or a laptop you can probably just sit in your local Starbucks and piggyback their wireless connection or something. As always, the faster the connection you can get, the better.

Lastly, and this is the thing most people forget about – you need to have the space to store all the stuff. The iphone may be pretty advanced but it's not bottomless – and it sure fills up fast once you have access to some free downloads.

Once you have all this stuff, (and let's face it if you are reading this article the chances are you already do) you'll need to find somewhere to download the free games and movies from. Most people at one point or another have used a file sharing or bit torrent site to get downloads, but it may surprise you to know that this is against the law – it's illegal to download things from websites like that in the most case, unless you already own a copy of whatever you download. Odd but true. Always check the laws and regulations in your own area.

There are a whole host of download sites for you to choose from these days, and they mainly work by charging you a one-off admin fee which then gives you lifetime access to their download libraries. The libraries are huge, with some having over 100 million files for you to look through. This makes it very easy to find your favourite TV show, or pretty much anything else you may be looking for. These sites are definitely recommended to get your free game and movie downloads from.

This article should give you a great idea of how to safely go about download free stuff for your Iphone.

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Iphone Movies
Songs For Iphone
http://www.IphoneDownloadsReviews.com

Free Iphone Games & Movies-The Full Story

Author: Robert Thomson

Do you want to download free Iphone games and movies? I think every Iphone user I have ever met has been head over heels in love with their Iphone, but none of them get any real value from it. If you want to get real value from your Iphone, read on!

Do you want to download free Iphone games and movies? I think every Iphone user I have ever met has been head over heels in love with their Iphone, but none of them get any real value from it. If you want to get real value from your Iphone, read on!

If you've gotten over the post Christmas boredom by downloading stuff from Itunes, you probably know how expensive it can work out to be. The costs of a single download isn't much, but whoever stops there? Instead of throwing away your precious income like that, check out these tips to make sure you aren't taken to the cleaners.

Tip 1
Torrent Sites- these sites can be useful, but only if you are smart about it. Firstly though, a word of warning – downloading something you don't already own from these sites is against the law – you can use them to download MP3s of your current CD collection no problem, but to download anything else is unlawful. Before you do anything like that check out the laws in your area. That's not all, sites like this can be a real breeding ground for hackers/spammers, so make sure your computer is super super secure before using them.

Tip 2
Use the membership sites – would you like to pay $50 and get unlimited access to every musical album you've ever wanted, or every computer game or DVD? Well here's your answer. The memberships are usually lifetime, and the downloads are very high speed and in very good condition. These sites are probably your best bet for building up a large catalog of downloads in the shortest time.

Tip 3
Avoid the scam sites. If you've spent any more than about 10 seconds on the net searching for free Iphone downloads you can't fail to have noticed the amount of websites competing for your attention. Unfortunately not all of these guys are as honest as you would hope. It's quite common to come across a site that promises the earth, only to find that there is nothing at all worthwhile there. The reason for this is that those types of sites get paid for people to click on their advertising, so it's in their interest to get as many people to visit their site as possible, regardless of whether they can actually provide any of the free downloads they claim. Not very cool, but it happens.

Hopefully these 3 tips have helped you open your eyes to the pitfalls of downloading free stuff for your Iphone.

Spambots and Forums

Author: Carolyn Clayton

Everyone of us who is a regular Internet user, whether it is merely having an email account, posting on websites or owning your own website have more than likely experienced spam at some point, with most people suffering from the burden everyday.

Everyone of us who is a regular Internet user, whether it is merely having an email account, posting on websites or owning your own website have more than likely experienced spam at some point, with most people suffering from the burden everyday.

Although email spam remains the biggest threat and annoyance to Internet users there are other forms of spam on the Internet that are catching up, the main example being forum spam. If you have a large website that has a lot of space your forum will most likely be powered by MySQL, vBulletin, Invasion Power Board or phpBB etc. These power the biggest forums and are the most used throughout websites on the Internet that have forums. By using one of these programmes to power your forum you will have less of a problem when it comes to spam as in order to post on forums powered by these you have to be a member of the forum.

Forums that have the worst problems with spam aren’t doomed however; there are steps that can be taken to reduce the amount of spam posts that appear on these forums. You should always make sure that people have to register on your forum to be able to post on it. By doing this you are given the opportunity to moderate new users, by doing this you will be able to keep an eye on the type of messages that these new users leave on your forum; if the messages are genuine then you can start to un-moderate these users, however if the posts that they make are spam then you are able to delete their membership before they start posting a vast amount.

Although it was believed that by making people have to register to your forum in order to stop spam being posted, this theory has been proven wrong due to what are known as spambots. These spambots are automated programmes that are made for the purpose of registering on forums. They supply the forum with a fake name and email address and even mask their IP address making them untraceable. Spammers then use these spambots to post on the forums. The spammer sets the message that the spambot will leave and the spambots signature on the forum will be filled with links that will take you to the spammer’s website. These links will more than likely take you to sites that are based around gambling, pornography and pharmaceuticals, which are normally weight loss supplements.

These spambots increase the workload of a forum administrator, making the moderators of a forum have to check every new member and on a forum that has an average of hundreds of new members within a week, this job becomes to time consuming, which in effect pushes up the labour costs of running the site.

Forums are meant to represent a place where opinions on a certain subject matter can be shared, somewhere you can share news with other members as well as being a host for expert advice; spammer’s are taking this privilege away from genuine users and are starting to discourage people from using the forum.

Spam and where it comes from

Author: Carolyn Clayton

In the society that we live in today people now class all unsolicited email as spam. This includes automatic replies, emails containing viruses and unwanted but legitimate business propositions.

In the society that we live in today people now class all unsolicited email as spam. This includes automatic replies, emails containing viruses and unwanted but legitimate business propositions.

Spam is nearly as old as the Internet and many believe that the problem of spam will never really go away as spammers are becoming increasingly difficult to stop. They are also finding more and more ways of delivering spam mail around the Internet.

One thing that many of us never really understand is how spammers get our email addresses in the first place. One of the main ways in which this is done is through spammers using computers to check almost every page of websites on the Internet looking for the ‘@’ symbol. If the symbol is found the spammer knows that it is an email address and then simply adds your email address to their database so that when the spammer sends out an automated spam message everyone who is on the database will receive it.

Spammers get your email address without you even realising it. The way in which you can reduce the chance of this happening is to ensure that you don’t place your email address on pages across the Internet; however if you need to do this for example for customers of your business to get in touch with you or if someone has requested your email address you should make it accessible to them by replacing the @ symbol, i.e. name[at]domain[dot]com. Spammer programmes will not be able to pick this up as an email address and you will still be able to place your email address on webpage’s.

Another way in which spammers are able to get a hold of your email address is if your email address is sorted on someone’s computer who gets a virus. Spam virus takes advantage of an infected computer and sends spam emails to all the addresses sorted within that PC. These spam emails do not get sent from the email address of the infected computer owner; they are sent from a fake, spam email address.

If you are finding that you are getting spam messages there are certain steps that you can take to reduce the amount of spam that you receiving, as well as getting a spam blocker/filter you should always remember to never reply to the spam email and never un-subscribe. Many people think that if they request to be taken off a ‘mailing’ list that they won’t receive any more spam emails. This is in fact opposite of what actually happens. If you request to un-subscribe the only thing that you are doing is verifying to a spammer that your email account is valid and they will simply send you more spam mail as they think that you are reading them.

The best reaction to take to spam mail is no reaction. You should never interact with a spammer in anyway as they will just send you more spam emails. To tackle spam messages you should invest in an anti-spam software and let that take care of the spam for you.

Online Computer Training For Free

Author: Ian Traynor

So you're on a tight budget and at the same time you want some computer training, right? Nowadays there are a lot of options for people seeking better themselves through various training programs and certification classes. However, some of them just can’t afford to make some of these options possi

So you're on a tight budget and at the same time you want some computer training, right? Nowadays there are a lot of options for people seeking better themselves through various training programs and certification classes. However, some of them just can’t afford to make some of these options possible due to not enough cash flow. That is where free online computer training comes in to picture. Where else can you go and get enough information to teach yourself all about computers? You can learn from the most difficult HTML (hyper-text mark up language, used to build websites) to as simple as how to tear down and rebuild a CPU (central processing unit)?

If you can just plug into a free online computer training system or a set of resources available in almost all places, you can literally teach yourself almost anything. There are a variety of ways to go about this process, so let's start from the beginning. The very first thing you need to determine on your own what exactly you want to learn from your free online computer training, before you ever embark on your online adventure. Pick out your base subject, and then you can get started researching online sources for free training. For our examples, let's take the subject of HTML and see where we can get some free online computer training to learn HTML.

As the part of first step, let's get on a major search engine like Yahoo or Google and do a search for the term 'free HTML training' or 'free online computer training'. You will find quite a few results coming up in reference to these terms, but don't be fooled. Most of these won't really have free training, maybe just a free sample class or maximum two. Some of these won't even have anything free at all, they either buy an advertising slot or they develop their website in a way to show up higher in the results to get your attention. Remember, what you are looking for is a site that is truly going to give you free online computer training.

Sometimes you can see that the best results for free online computer training can come in the form of free forums or bulletin boards. For all those who are really new to the Internet, let's talk about them for a minute. Forums and bulletin boards are web pages that allow visitors to sign up as 'users', usually for free. Once you are registered with these sights, you can then post and respond to others on the forums or boards and ask questions. The specialty of these resources is that there are hundreds of websites out there covering almost all topics that can be imagined, especially the one’s dealing with computers. So for all those who are searching for an online free computer training this works like crazy. They also contain a great wealth of information from other users who have answered in return to the questions generally asked on the boards.

Another such website which contains one such free online computer training is e-zines and newsletters. You can as well do another research for the search term ‘free online computer training’ in conjunction with terms like e-zines and newsletters. Don’t worry as most of these too are free and you can subscribe for them either for a long or short time depending on what kind of materials are provided in the due course. Overall it can be said that where there is a will, there is a way, especially when it comes to free online computer training.

Paid Online Surveys - An Easy Way To Make Money At Home

Author: Dhiru.chd.kumar

Doing paid online surveys is a very easy way to make money at home. I'd rank this occupation as second in simplicity only to getting paid to auto surf - there simply cannot be anything easier than logging into a website and allowing advertisers' websites to scroll across your computer screen - doing

Doing paid online surveys is a very easy way to make money at home. I'd rank this occupation as second in simplicity only to getting paid to auto surf - there simply cannot be anything easier than logging into a website and allowing advertisers' websites to scroll across your computer screen - doing paid online surveys does take a little more effort but not too much and it is an enjoyable pastime.

I discovered paid online surveys by accident. I was actually using the Internet to search for a job and I had the idea of looking for work at home opportunities. It all seems a bit unreal when I look back - was there really a time when I didn't know you could get paid for doing online surveys? In those days, the only surveys I knew about were the ones I occasionally received in the post and which would promise entry into a prize draw as a reward for taking the time to complete the survey. I never did win a prize but I built up quite a collection of free pens. Now I take it for granted that email invitations to take part in paid online surveys will turn up in my mailbox on a daily basis and (the important bit) that I will get paid for completing the surveys.

One great thing about paid online surveys is the fact that you don't need any special skills to take part. As long as you have an Internet linked computer and an opinion, you are qualified. There is no right or wrong answers when it comes to surveys, the companies want to hear what you think, they don't want to test your knowledge. Most questions will permit you to answer "don’t know" or "not sure". Sometimes, you will be given multiple choices and asked to pick the closest to your viewpoint. The best survey companies without fail try to make it easy for you to give meaningful answers.

Restored Computer Hardware

Restored Computer Hardware
Author: Carolyn Clayton

Hardware is an aspect of your computer that doesn’t require the need to be changed that often, unlike software. So if your hardware shouldn’t need to be changed that often you want to make sure that when you purchase it you are buying a piece of hardware that will last.

Hardware is an aspect of your computer that doesn’t require the need to be changed that often, unlike software. So if your hardware shouldn’t need to be changed that often you want to make sure that when you purchase it you are buying a piece of hardware that will last.

A lot of people overlook the need and responsibility of PC hardware and instead concentrate primarily on software. Without the correct hardware your PC will fail to function correctly.

The term hardware can be fixed to many aspects of your computer, with the main aspect being your motherboard. The motherboard is classed as the heart of your computer; its main purpose is to provide electrical and logical connections. Without a motherboard your computer will not be able to function. Components such as external storage, controllers for video display and sound are attached to the motherboard via edge connectors and cables.

The central processing unit (CPU) is also found on the motherboard and acts as another important piece of computer hardware. The CPU performs most of the calculations which enables a computer to function. The CPU and the motherboard are found within the tower of your computer as is the computer fan, needed to keep your computer at a safe temperature and your power supply, which is obviously needed to ensure your computer has power to function. Along with all of these you will also find your computers sound card and graphics card within your computer tower. Your graphics card, also known as a video display controller, is important to your computer as it is what enables you to get a good resolution and without one you would not be able to watch videos, play games or even clearly see flash images on websites.

One last hardware feature of importance that is kept within your computer tower is the computers hard drive. The hard drive is the storage area of your computer system. All your programmes and applications as well as images, music, video and all forms of media that is on your computer are stored within your computers hard drive.

All of the previously mentioned hardware is stored in the tower of your computer but there are aspects of computer hardware that are visible on your computer such as removable media in the form of a CD drive, DVD drive, floppy disc and USB ports.

When it comes to buying these pieces of computer hardware most people head straight to the biggest brand store and pay over expensive prices for hardware that you could have got a lot cheaper from another avenue. If you are looking to buy computer hardware there are a number of options open to you rather than just buying new. For example there are computer fairs that are held, which sell all forms of computer hardware at very reasonable prices; if you know what you are looking for you will be able to find a great deal at a computer fair. However if you would prefer buying from a retailer have you considered buying used hardware? Please don’t be put off by the term used what is meant by this is you would be buying new hardware that has been returned by customers and restored by the retailer. Dell is a prime example of a store that frequently sells hardware that has been returned and has been repaired to new standards.

All of the equipment is new and only has minor issues such as a slight dent. Retailers such as Dell sell restored equipment within their store and also do so over the Internet on sites such as eBay. All of this equipment comes at a discounted price with around 10-40% being taken off the original price depending on the level of interest. So next time you require to purchase computer equipment, shop around instead of just settling for a high price.

Why Using Non-Conventional Security Awareness Training is Crucial!

Author: Gale Yocom

Financial Institutions can look to more in-depth examinations this year since the FDIC issued FIL-105-207, which updated the IT Examination Officer’s Questionnaire.

Financial Institutions can look to more in-depth examinations this year since the FDIC issued FIL-105-207, which updated the IT Examination Officer’s Questionnaire. The FDIC wants to make sure that insured depository institutions have security programs that guarantee the confidentiality of customer information in addition to anticipating and protecting against security threats and unauthorized access of customer information.

To ensure that these issues were addressed, there are five sections on the questionnaire, which includes Risk Assessment, Operations Security & Risk Management, Audit/Independent Review Program, Disaster Recovery/ Business Continuity Management and Vendor Management/Service Provider Oversight.

Parts 1 and 4, namely Risk Management and Disaster Recovery are much the same as the 2005 questionnaire, with some minor changes. The other sections have a number of significant changes; one of the most important is that the 2007 questionnaire has included an entirely new section that focuses on questions about Vendor Management. One particular topic of concern addresses the FIL, because most institutions do not have standard security awareness training programs in place.

Training Awareness Using Non-Conventional Methods

With so many new complex threats going beyond the standard pharming, phishing and vishing attacks, assaults are now focusing on the end user or client side exploits. These attacks are exploiting and affecting mail readers, Internet browsers and third party applications such as Adobe Reader. Because of these more sophisticated attacks, it is more important than ever to educate users/employees about these risks, which can be achieved by making sure IT Managers have compliant training sessions in place.

What we at Covetrix discovered is that most security awareness training programs are simply not enough. They are usually done annually or only when the employee is initially hired. Even with extensive training, the level of absorption of these topics is often forgotten in just a matter of weeks, usually because of a lack of interest or because of the approach of the material presentation.

After a while, employees almost get the feeling of someone crying wolf when it comes to phishing / pharming / vishing attacks, which for future reference we will refer to social engineering. The training programs must be adapted so that the critical level of importance remains high. We believe by providing non-conventional, educational and real world examples, a financial institution will not only be able to educate employees with increased absorption, but they will also be able to understand how these scams work thereby being able to spot a scam and then quickly catching it before it impedes on the customer’s privacy.

Tracking Employee Review is Critical to Retention

As our clients are eager to improve on their security levels, we believe it is vitally important to build strong teams, teams that can provide a quick response to potential threats, keeping security risks from causing havoc in the financial institution. At Covetrix, we see a need to track employee reviews of the security training material. The reason? It has been proven that more often then not, an individual may watch security awareness training videos, read e-mail messages, or review computer use handbooks with the best of intentions, yet their level of retention and absorption of the security knowledge is often limited. Covetrix has designed IT training videos that keep interest high and retention longer.

The way they work is the video pauses and asks the viewer questions about the previously viewed content before continuing. This information is also reported to IT staff for compliance during examinations. Trained individuals must be ready and prepared to make quick decisions so that nothing threatens the security of the financial institution. Yet even with willing participants, individuals are sometimes overwhelmed with too much information.

Despite the idea of ensuring that videos are watched and questioned and then asked about their understanding of content, we need the information to stick. To ensure that training methods stay in the minds of the users/employees, new ways of implementing the information must be enforced, which means it is necessary to implement non-conventional techniques.

How Non-Conventional Methods Work

In the event of identity theft scams, placing untrained people in security roles is not going to keep security risks away! What will keep them away is giving individuals the proper training, continually expanding on knowledge through effective training programs. As a well-qualified technology expert and experienced security specialist, it has become very obvious that when individuals are properly trained, they retain and absorb information more readily. And based on my years of experience, one of the best ways to help retain and absorb information is through non-conventional strategies.

What do I mean by non-conventional strategies? In most training programs, the user is given a direction of lists which may include things like the following:

1. Don’t open bad mail
2. Don’t go to a bad website
3. Report all phishing emails

The problem stems from the user’s actual understanding of this information. Our videos are using non-conventional training by actually showing a user exactly what is a bad mail, how they are created, or how a hacker creates a phishing site and attacks their institution. Combined with the employee’s review of the information and non-conventional training, the knowledge transfers information in a far more effective manner.

The Outcome

As a result of implementing these innovative awareness training video strategies, we have seen a high level of success during our third party penetration testing and audits. Equally important are the individuals who are able to understand and retain information more efficiently.

It’s very clear that even the most effective training program requires periodic testing to ensure that the training program is serving the ever-changing needs of the financial institution. And just as technological challenges continue to change and grow, so too must training programs grow and change as well.

With non-conventional training strategies, financial institutions have a far better chance of keeping customers safe from scams and unauthorized access to private information.

About Author

Mr. Gale Yocom is a recognized technology expert and President of the Dallas-based security specialist company Covetrix. For the past ten years his company has provided full service networking and security solutions to government entitities, financial institutions, and commercial businesses across the U.S. Performing security audits, asessments and implementation of security measures on ISP networks, he brings a wealth of knowledge and information to Internet security.

How to Configure an NTP Network Time Server in Windows XP

Author: Richard N Williams

This article describes how to configure Windows XP to act as an authoritative time server using NTP (Network Time Protocol).

Computer time synchronisation is highly important in modern computer networks, precision and time synchronization is critical in many applications, particularly time sensitive transactions. Just imagine buying an airline seat only to be told at the airport that the ticket was sold twice because it was purchased afterwards on a computer that had a slower clock!

Modern computers do have internal clocks called Real Time Clock chips (RTC) that provide time and date information. These chips are battery backed so that even during power outages, they can maintain time but personal computers are not designed to be perfect clocks. Their design has been optimized for mass production and low-cost rather than maintaining accurate time.

For many applications, this is can be quite adequate, although, quite often machines need time to be synchronised with other PC's on a network and when computers are out of sync with each other problems can arise such as sharing network files or in some environments even fraud!

Microsoft Windows XP has a time synchronisation utility built into the operating system called Windows Time (w32time.exe) which can be configured to operate as a network time server. It can be configured to both synchronise a network using the internal clock or an external time source.

Note: Microsoft strongly recommends that you configure a time server with a hardware source rather than from the internet where there is no authentication.

To configure Windows Time service to use the internal hardware clock, first check that w32time is located in the system services list in the registry, to check:

Click Start, Run then type regedit then click ok.

Locate and then click the following registry entry:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\W32Time

It is highly recommended that you back up the registry as serious problems may occur if you modify the registry incorrectly, modifications to the registry are done at your own risk.

To begin configuration for an internal clock, click on Config in the w32Time folder.

In the right pane, right-click AnnounceFlags, then click modify.

The ‘AnnounceFlags' registry entry indicates whether the server is a trusted time reference, 5 indicates a trusted source so in the Edit DWord Value box, under Value Data, type 5, then click OK.

Network Time Protocol (NTP) is an Internet protocol used for the transfer of accurate time, providing time information along so that a precise time can be obtained

To enable the Network Time Protocol; NTPserver, locate and click:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\W32Time\ TimeProviders\NtpServer\

In the right pane, right-click Enabled, then click Modify.

In the Edit DWord Value box, type 1 under Value data, then click OK.

Exit Registry Editor

Click Start, then Run then type the following and press Enter: Net stop w32time && net start w32time

To reset the local computers’ time, type the following on all computers except for the time server which must not be synchronised with itself:
W32tm/resync/rediscover

To configure Windows Time to use an external time source

Run Registry Edit and locate the following:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\W32Time\ parameters\

In the right pane, right-click Type, then click Modify. In the Edit Value box, under Value Data, type NTP and then click OK.

Now as before in the Config folder, right-click AnnounceFlags, Modify and in the Edit DWORD Value box, under Value Data, type 5, then click OK.

Locate and click the following
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\W32Time\ TimeProviders\NtpClient\

In the right pane, right-click SpecialPollInterval, then click Modify.

In the Edit DWORD Value box, under Value Data, type the number of seconds you want for each poll, ie 900 will poll every 15 minutes, then click OK.

Now enable the NtpServer:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\W32Time\ TimeProviders\NtpServer\

In the right pane, right-click Enabled, then click Modify

In the Edit DWord Value box, type 1 under Value data, then click OK.

Now in the right pane, right-click NtpServer, then Modify and in the Edit DWORD Value under Value Data type Peers, then click OK.

To configure the time correction settings, locate:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\W32Time\config
In the right pane, right-click MaxPosPhaseCorrection, then Modify, in the Edit DWORD Value box, under Base, click Decimal, under Value Data, type a time in seconds such as 3600 (an hour) then click OK.

Now go back and click:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\W32Time\config

In the right pane, right-click MaxNegPhaseCorrection, then Modify.

In the Edit DWORD box under base, click Decimal, under value data type the time in seconds you want to poll such as 3600 (polls in one hour)

Exit Registry

Now to restart windows time service, click Start, Run and type: net stop w32time && net start w32time

And on each computer, other than the domain controller, type:
W32tm/resync/rediscover And that’s it your time server should be now up and running.